Marital Aspirations,Sexual Behaviors,and HIV/AIDS in Rural Malawi

We explore how marital aspirations are related to the sexual behaviors of adolescents and young adults in Malawi, where HIV/AIDS prevalence among adults exceeds 10%. We also consider whether the specter of AIDS is shaping ideals about marriage. By combining survey data (N = 1,087) and in‐depth interviews (N = 133) with young Malawians from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project, we show that looking for and finding a suitable spouse are linked to sexual behaviors and, thus, HIV risks. Moreover, concerns about contracting HIV are closely tied to the ideal characteristics of a future spouse. Our findings draw long‐overdue attention to the importance of marital aspirations in understanding adolescent sexual behaviors and risks in the era of AIDS.     

Women's home attachment at first birth

The impact of the transition to parenthood on the labour-force activity of Swedish women one year after first birth is studied using data from the 1981 Swedish Fertility Survey. The probability of remaining at home one year after delivery is found to be significantly affected by length of education, marital status, early labour-force withdrawal and duration of union. Highly educated women seem to have already established a pattern of low home attachment by the mid-50s. Women with less education have tended to ‘catch-up’ with this low home attachment over time. For women with a medium level of education there is, however, a slight reversal of this downward trend toward the end of the 1970s.     

Diagnosing inequalities in schooling: Ogbu’s orientation and wider implications

Throughout his life, John Ogbu worked untiringly to diagnose the educational problems of minorities, with the goal of remedying them. Although his earliest works propose a comprehensive anthropological approach, his last works seem to settle into exhortations to parents and teachers to put more pressure on (involuntary) minority children whose achievements are low; and to pupils to stop grumbling and get down to taking their schoolwork seriously. In this paper, I claim that Ogbu’s work can be seen to be showing the way to the deployment of more sophisticated theoretical tools in order to attain (1) a more refined analysis of the minority status; and (2) a broader social understanding of the basis for rejecting school standards among different kinds of minorities. By resorting to the broader theoretical approach he pioneered, researchers will be able to propose more effective remedies.

‘The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication …. compels all nations … to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst … In one word, it creates a world after its own image’ (Marx & Engels, Communist Manifesto, 1935 Marx K Engels F (1935/1948) The Communist manifesto in: E. Burns (Ed.) A Handbook of Marxism New York International Publishers  [Google Scholar], p. 27).     

Die Rolle von Psycholog/innen in den Medien

The role of psychologists in the mediaDiscribing the phenomena of frequently asking journalists the authors are trying to describe the social meaning of role-and functiontaking of the science of psychology in the public discussion. They are following the question whether it could be possible to publish scientific results without banalizing, taking part in voyerism and reprehensible emotion creating.     

Social Amplification of Wildfire Risk: The Role of Social Interactions and Information Sources

Wildfire is a persistent and growing threat across much of the western United States. Understanding how people living in fire‐prone areas perceive this threat is essential to the design of effective risk management policies. Drawing on the social amplification of risk framework, we develop a conceptual model of wildfire risk perceptions that incorporates the social processes that likely shape how individuals in fire‐prone areas come to understand this risk, highlighting the role of information sources and social interactions. We classify information sources as expert or nonexpert, and group social interactions according to two dimensions: formal versus informal, and generic versus fire‐specific. Using survey data from two Colorado counties, we empirically examine how information sources and social interactions relate to the perceived probability and perceived consequences of a wildfire. Our results suggest that social amplification processes play a role in shaping how individuals in this area perceive wildfire risk. A key finding is that both “vertical” (i.e., expert information sources and formal social interactions) and “horizontal” (i.e., nonexpert information and informal interactions) interactions are associated with perceived risk of experiencing a wildfire. We also find evidence of perceived “risk interdependency”—that is, homeowners’ perceptions of risk are higher when vegetation on neighboring properties is perceived to be dense. Incorporating social amplification processes into community‐based wildfire education programs and evaluating these programs’ effectiveness constitutes an area for future inquiry.     

Bargaining With Time: An Interview With Helen Pavlin

Helen Pavlin is an accredited mental health social worker and family therapist and accredited family dispute resolution practitioner in private practice in Darwin. She has been involved in social work and family therapy since the early 1970s in Australia and internationally. In 1996 she received the 50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal from the Australian Association of Social Workers. She is one of the assessors and associate editors for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy. In 2007 Helen received the Journal Award for her outstanding contribution to the family therapy field in Australia. She is an accomplished writer and a member of the Australian Society of Authors. Her poems and book reviews have been published frequently in ANZJFT.     

Is the Way Young People Drive a Reflection of the Way Their Parents Drive? An Econometric Study of the Relation Between Parental Risk and Their Children's Risk

This article aims to investigate parental influence on high-risk behavior by young people. Although research on the topic of perception of risk demonstrates that it is socially constructed, the role of the family in this construction has rarely been studied. Using a French national survey of more than 1,200 young drivers between the ages of 18 and 25, and their parents, we attempt to understand the transmission of risk within families. Our econometric study shows that parents influence both the practices and representations of their children. When parental norms and values are transmitted, they are by no means accepted in a wholly passive way. Indeed, the parental model is in competition with other models that originate from both inside the family (brothers and sisters) and outside it (instructors). Furthermore, parental influence decreases over time as young people become more experienced drivers and construct their own identity with regard to risk.     

Refugees: Challenges to Protection

By the end of the year 2000, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will have been in existence for 50 years – which is probably some sort of record for an organization originally set up with just a three‐year mandate. There were many reasons for so limiting the successor agency to the International Refugee Organization, but it is doubtful whether anyone seriously thought that refugee problems would be resolved so quickly, or indeed that UNHCR would develop into the highly operational, visible and extensively funded entity that we see today. Fifty years of experience nevertheless suggests that it is high time for an audit, for an evaluation of strengths, weaknesses and achievements, and a little strategic thinking about the future.